Irven DeVore
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Irven DeVore (October 7, 1934 – September 23, 2014) was an
Early life and career
DeVore grew up in
Ethnographic work
However, by the mid-'60s he had turned his attention to
Meanwhile, Lee and DeVore had also made their first, exploratory visit to northwestern
In the late 1970s he began another major multidisciplinary study, together with Robert Bailey and Nadine Peacock, among the small-stature hunter-gatherers of the
Evolutionary theory
DeVore, not one to shy away from controversy, was also an early enthusiast of the fields of sociobiology and evolutionary psychology, fostering their development through mentoring and teaching as well as through interviews, lectures, debates, and writing for scientific and popular audiences. He became an advocate for the evolutionary biological approach after being one of the few to listen to the ideas of Robert Trivers, who was shunned due to his mental illness.[2] Several years into this new way of looking at animal and human behavior, DeVore was asked whether the data were really supporting it. He liked to say, "The data are sitting up and begging." By the turn of the millennium sociobiology and evolutionary psychology had become normal science, although still controversial. One of the painful consequences for DeVore in the '80s and '90s was that his mentor and close friend, "Sherry" Washburn, was a bitter opponent of the new approach. They eventually reconciled, but never agreed.
DeVore had a sometimes caustic but compelling personality and intellect that worked their influence in and out of the classroom. He appeared on many television programs as an expert or narrator. He played an instrumental role in developing supplementary school curricula, one of which, "Man: A Course of Study" (MACOS) became a subject of Congressional debate because of its emphasis on evolution. The son of an itinerant
He suggested that, due to sexual selection, "Males are basically a breeding experiment run by females" and that "Males are the safest, most consistent way to contribute variation to the system..."[3]
Irven DeVore once said that "There is no excuse for boring students when you're talking about human nature. It's too interesting." He taught in large lecture halls that were perennially full as well as in the smaller but influential "Simian Seminar," which met in his living room on Wednesday evenings, in his rambling, comfortable home on a quiet wooded street in
Through these seminars, the ideas of evolutionary biology rose to prominence as group selection (with regard to explaining behaviour) faded, albeit not directly through Irven's work. Leda Cosmides and John Tooby, two attendees of the seminars, stated "DeVore's intellectual impact is less well known because his ideas were realized through his students and colleagues."[2]
Personal life and awards
He was an avid and widely published photographer, and his photos became part of the core collection of AnthroPhoto, an agency founded by his wife, Nancy DeVore, and now managed by his daughter, Claire. The agency is known for the scientific authenticity of the photos and accompanying information. DeVore also made or helped to make numerous documentary and educational films about baboons and other subjects.
DeVore was a Fellow of the
On September 3, 2014, DeVore died of heart failure. He lived through the death of his son, Gregory, in 2003. His wife, Nancy, died several months after her husband. DeVore is survived by his daughter, Claire, and his four grandchildren who remain in Massachusetts.
Books
- Primate Behavior: Field Studies of Monkeys and Apes, ed., Holt, Rinehart & Winston, New York.
- 1963 Baboon Behavior Awarded first prize by the Educational Film Library Association, 1963.
- 1965 The Primates, with S. Eimerl (Series: Time-Life, New York.
- 1968 Man the Hunter, with Richard B. Lee, eds. Aldine Publ., Chicago.
- 1976 Kalahari Hunter-Gatherers, with Richard B. Lee, eds., Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
- 1982 Field Guide for the Study of Adolescence, with Beatrice Whiting, John Whiting, et al.
- 1990 Current Studies on Primate Socioecology and Evolution.
- 1992 Socioecology of baboons in the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve, 1958–92.
References
- ISBN 9781311236951.
- ^ ISBN 9781311236951.
- ^ Devore Discusses the Evolution Of Human Social Organization, The Harvard Crimson, April 6, 1978.
External links
- Curriculum vitae - his professional résumé
- Interview transcript
- Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology
- NY Times Obituary